Sam Pictor: Over the last few years, a new type of super shoe has entered the market
capturing the attention of runners around the world promising the next level of performance
and generally carrying the price tag to match. Mark Threlfall: Yes, nowadays, most running shoe
manufacturers have their own high-end 'super shoe' usually, containing a carbon plate and ultra-light
materials. It's pretty hard to argue with the science, even harder to argue with the results.
Sam: But we thought we'd give it a go anyway and so today, we will bring you the showdown that you
never thought you needed. Cheap shoe- Mark: -versus super shoe.
[music] Mark:
That's right, we've all heard of the hype and excitement around this next generation
of super shoe. We thought it's about time we put them to the test GTN style. Now in 2017,
the running world was shaken up by this new release from Nike. The Vaporfly 4%
which has a carbon plate integrated into the sole which they claim helped to improve
running economy by you guessed it, 4%. Sam: Since then, the running market has been hit
time and time again as brands bring out their own boundary-pushing super shoes. Here at GTN, we've
been lucky enough that On have provided us with their latest set of super shoes, the On Cloudboom.
[music] Sam: The Cloudboom trainers really are up
there as a true super shoe. Retailing at £170, the Cloudboom has a carbon speedboard plate running
from heel to toe with a twin layer of patented Helion superfoam, one above the carbon speedboard
and one below. This shoe is an out and out racer. The Cloudboom has been constructed with a single
layer of ultra-light engineered mesh to reduce weight and dissipate heat, so at only 225 grams,
the Cloudboom not only sounds fast, it is fast. Mark: Well, we're not disputing that that shoe
is fast but does that make this cheap shoe slow? Well, it's time to take a look at the challenger.
[music] Mark:
The SOLLOMENSI running shoe retailing at just under £30 and surprisingly a very similar weight
to the On Cloudboom. Yes, I've done some research on the SOLLOMENSI shoe and they
are advertised as having a fabric knit upper giving them breathability and fast drying.
They also have excellent shock absorbing ability, comfort and they are stylish. You
can make your own mind up on that. The outer material is synthetic with a gum
rubber sole. It has a non-slip sole and I have the list here. They are suitable for: party, sports,
indoor, outdoor, travel, shopping, driving, camping, dog walks, running. You get the picture.
Sam: Basically they're an all-rounder? Mark: Yes. Pretty much. All
right then, we've got both shoes beside us right now so I thought we'd run through some
of the obvious differences by eye between the two. Starting with the Cloudboom, well they are very
sleek and a well-engineered pair of shoes. They've got some advanced materials in there. They look
very breathable. They're also incredibly stiff when you roll them through and then they've got
this really nice spring to them as you toe-off. The cheap shoe, however, is well, I hate to say
it, it's quite a clunky design. I wonder how that's going to feel. They've also got
quite a thick midsole that doesn't feel that secure and stable. They are though,
incredibly stiff. I'm quite surprised by that. You don't seem to get quite the same toe-off spring
so it'll be interesting to see how they feel. Sam: Yes, there are also similarities.
Very simply put, they are running trainers. Both specifically designed for running and so it does
raise the question, "How much difference does a running shoe make?" The Cloudbooms clearly are
an out and out racer. These are specifically designed for racing whereas the SOLLOMENSIs,
they might have things like grip, comfort, and general usability in mind. That's not to say that
the Cloudboom doesn't have these things, they have a new traction pattern on the sole to give you
grip in all conditions and they've added stability in the toe box to help with grip on sharp turns.
Generally, there's a good amount of comfort and cushioning for an all out and out racer.
Mark: Well, that's enough talk but can these shoes walk the walk? Or run the run?
Sam: Well, We've come up with a highly scientific detailed measuring process that will calculate
optimized velocities and propulsive forces between two stationary objects measured out
using an advanced geographic positioning system. Mark: Hey-hey, that's right. We will be running as
fast as we can to compare the two pairs of shoes. Camera Man: Well that doesn't seem very
scientific. Sam:
What do you mean that's not very scientific? Okay, okay, okay. It's going to be hard to be
completely scientific but we're going to try our best. We're going to do two tests today.
The first test would be a set of two 400s with 1-minute recovery. One of us will be wearing the
cheap shoe, the SOLLOMENSIs and one of us will be wearing the Cloudbooms, the super shoe. After
the test we'll take a bit of recovery, we'll swap shoes and we'll go again. We'll be looking at how
fast we went and how we felt during the effort. Mark: Then, we're also going to do a
2K tempo. Hopefully, this will be more of a test for the shoes than it is for us.
As with the others, once we've done that one 2K tempo, we'll swap shoes and do the same again.
Sam: Absolutely, so I'm happy with that. We've marked out the course using
your geographical positioning system and I see that you have chosen the super
shoe which means that I am in the cheap shoe. Mark: Now, we know there's a lot of variables
at play here but we wanted to do this basic test to cut through the advertising and see what their
basic differences are on the ground. Hopefully, we'll see that today. Now, the intervals we've
chosen to do are short enough that hopefully, they don't induce so much fatigue that they start to
affect the results but also long enough that we do build up a bit of a picture of their performance.
Sam: Let's go for a little warm-up and then we'll get cracking.
[music] Mark:
Okay, Sam, shall we do this? Sam: Yes, who's going first?
Mark: I'm quite keen for you to go first so I can just
watch from behind and see how these shoes look. Sam: Okay, how much head start do I get?
Mark: I'll give you a minute. Hopefully, I don't catch you.
Sam: A minute on a 400. Mark: Or these stroller ladies don't catch you.
Sam: Oh, we better go quick. Okay, are you going to count me in?
Mark: Yes ready? Three, two, one, go, go, go, go. Cor, he's fast.
[music] Sam:
That was a long 400. Don't feel like they give you anything. Just feels like you're
really working hard. I'm trying to work out if that's because of my level of fitness
or the trainer but we'll see what the Cloudbooms can offer. First set done. Two 400s,
a minute break in between, and how was it, Mark? Mark: I'm regretting deciding to do two lots of
400s but actually quite well-paced although it didn't feel like it. I went 68 on the first one
and 69 on the second one. Very interested to hear how these guys run though.
Sam: Yes, I'm not sure I paced myself as well as you. I went 69 for the first, then around
72, 73 for the second. Very excited to try those because these just felt, they weren't giving me
anything. It's like if you run on hard sand on a beach it just takes a bit out each time and so
I'd like a bit of that energy return. Mark: I'm not so excited to hand these over.
Sam: We'll give it a go.
[music] Mark: How was that then?
Sam: Well done. Much better. I was amazed at how different they felt compared to the SOLLOMENSIs.
Mark: What times did you go with those then? Sam: I did 67 on the way out, 69 on the way back.
Mark: That is fast, mate, and significantly quicker than you went with these on the first
ones. I was, no surprises the opposite way around. I went 72 and 73 on these next 400s with these and
I've got to say, I weirdly start thinking, "You know what? These actually feel quite
good." Then I realized they actually just felt really comfortable and then I just was lacking
that energy return that I just felt like I was getting with those. I think we're going to see
this even more so when we go onto these longer efforts which is kind of the reason we're doing it
because that energy return I just felt like I was getting with those is just,
there's nothing here. Sam: I'm really looking
forward to the 2K effort in these. Those I think, it's going to be a bit of a struggle but they are
running trainers. They should do the job. Mark: Yes. In all fairness to them,
the profile of them, they do toe-off quite nicely. They're actually
a comfy shoe. They toe-off quite nicely. It's just that return that you get from those, that's--
Sam: A comparison that came to mind for me was it might be similar to if you're in London or a
big city, you hire a bike to go around town. You can sprint and in between that it's quite fun,
but as soon as you try and do anything proper in it, it just doesn't perform. Whereas these,
it's like your carbon racing bike. Mark: This is your Boris bike, that's your
fully-fledged race bike. Sam: Absolutely.
Mark: All right, then. Now, for the 2K. I might as well go first as you went first
on the last one. I'll stay in these gold old SOLLOMENSIs. I'm kind of looking forward to
this one actually, more so than the 400s. Sam: I'll be thinking of you out there.
I'll give you a minute, don't worry. Mark: Okay. All right. Oh,
I need to get my GPS and we're good. Okay, ready. Sam: Okay. Mark Threlfall, on your marks, get set,
go. Go, go, go, go, go. Pace
it. [music]
How was that? Mark: That was all right, actually.
Sam: What sort of pace were you going for? Mark: I was sticking around about 3:20, 3:25.
Sam: Nice. Mark: It just felt controlled.
Sam: I was running 3:30 for a K. I literally hit about 7 minutes for the 2K, so bang on. Honestly,
I didn't really notice much. I think I've just got used to the shoes, but towards the end,
I was just feeling like I was sinking into the ground. I'm quite excited to get these shoes off.
Mark: I fell on top of it the whole way there. It felt exactly as a racing shoe should feel
actually. The contrast will be very interesting. Sam: All right. Let's do this then.
Mark: All right, the last 2K. I'm quite pleased I'm finishing off with these. [chuckles]
Right, then, can you count me in, Sam? Sam: Yes. Mark Threlfall, are you ready?
On your marks, get set, go. [music]
Nice one. Well done, mate.
Mark: Well, that was pretty interesting. You've just come in and said your times
were slower, it was significantly harder. Sam: It's not necessarily about overall time,
it's also about how it felt. I ran slower, I ran about 4 or 5 seconds a K slower
and it felt harder. I am surprised because when we first started thinking about this challenge,
I thought there wouldn't be that much in it, but it just makes such a difference.
Mark: Honestly, I thought there'd be very little in it. I actually struggled to hold myself back.
I think in the first half a K, I was around about 3:10 per kilometer. I was meant to be going 3:30,
had to hold myself back. I still went through the whole 2K 20 seconds quicker than I was meant to.
Substantially more off, and my heart rate was more or less the same and the effort felt the same,
and just to add insult to injury, my shoelace came undone after about a K and I just carried on
because I didn't want to stop. That's user error rather than a manufacturing thing. I just didn't
do them up well enough and I still ran better. Sam: I think it's fair to say that we
didn't actually expect this and it does sound like we're raving about that shoe.
It won't do the running for you, but man, it makes a difference when you're comparing
it to a real standard cheap shoe like this. Mark: Whilst we're here, we might as well round
this video up. Look, as Sam has just said, the SOLLOMENSI shoe is still a good shoe. We've just
ran reasonably well in it. As we said already, it feels really comfortable, it's got really nice
toe-off. There's a lot of other shoes out there on the market that are very similar, if not slightly
better if you pay an extra £20 or so more, you're going to get a much better shoe again,
but it has highlighted to us today actually, the super shoes with carbon plates in them,
there is maybe something to them. Sam: I think if you were to try and
race in those compared to these, hands down, we'd know who the winner would be.
Mark: We're really interested to hear from you guys about the whole super shoe debate at the
moment because there is a lot out there. Whether it's ethical, whether we should be allowing them.
Get involved in the comments section down below. This was an interesting test today.
It was very rough and ready. We'd like to take this further and we will do in the
near future. We'll go into a lab, we're going to do all sorts of various things. Hopefully,
that has scratched that itch for you today. If so, please do give this video a Like, give it a
thumbs up. Don't forget to give GTN a follow over on social media. If you're not doing so already,
give a subscribe just down below. Sam: Right. Race you to the pub?
Mark: Yes. Sam: [chuckles]
You've got a super shoe on. [00:15:28] [END OF AUDIO]